Davao Police Officers and the War on Drugs

From “Forever War: The Legacy of Martial Law and Counterinsurgency,” By Sheila S. Coronel, from the book The Marcos Era: A Reader, edited by Leia Castañeda Anastacio and Patricio N. Abinales, published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2022.

Davao Police Officers & the Drug War

These police officers were stationed in Davao City and its environs in various periods between 1987 and 2016, when Duterte was active in city politics. When Duterte became president, many of them were promoted and given plum postings in the Philippine National Police, the chief implementor of the anti-drug campaign.

Officer Name (ranks as of 2016)	Davao Postings	Appointments after Duterte’s election in 2016
PNP Directorial Staff*
Chief Supt. Ronaldo Dela Rosa (PMA ‘86)	1986 – PC lieutenant assigned to Davao City; 1992 – assigned to the staff of the Police Regional Office-Davao; 1997 – named police chief of Compostela Valley; 2001- assigned to the Davao regional police office in Davao City;  2005 – briefly assigned to the Davao City police department, then sent back to the provincial and regional police office; 2009 – police chief of Davao Del Sur; 2012-13 – Davao City police chief, pioneered tokhang as a way to deal with drug offenders.	Chief, Philippine National Police in 2016-2018; later chief of the Bureau of Corrections; elected Senator in 2019
Chief Supt. Ramon C. Apolinario (PMA ’85)	2008-2010 – Davao City police chief; in 2009, testified before the Commission on Human Rights and said there were 122 extrajudicial killings in Davao City between January-August 2009. Of these, only a quarter had been solved. The CHR cited this to show “systematic failure” on the part of police and local officials to conduct meaningful investigation of a “systematic practice of extrajudicial killings” by the Davao Death Squad (CHR Resolution, June 28, 2012).  Apolinario, however, told the CHR that the police could not solve the killings because witnesses were afraid to testify and do not believe the government can protect them.	Chief, PNP Directorial Staff;  later deputy director (second in command), PNP
Chief Supt. Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan (PMA ’86)	2012 – chief finance service officer, Region 11 (Davao Region) Police Office in Davao City; 2014-2015 – chief of the directorial staff, Davao Region Police Office	Director for Operations; chief, National Capital Region Police Office; chief, PNP Security Group; chief, PNP directorial staff; PNP chief, September-November 2020
Chief Supt. Archie Gamboa (PMA ’86)	1997-2002 – spokesman, Davao Region Police Office	Director for Comptrollership; PNP chief, October 2019-September 2020
Chief Supt. Nestor F. Quinsay (PMA ‘84)	2005 – chief, Regional Mobile Group 11 stationed in Davao City; 2007 – chief of the directorial staff, Davao Police Regional Office in Davao City; 2010 – chief of the Region 11 Public Safety Battalion in Davao; 2011 – chief of the Davao Regional Police Office directorial staff	Officer-in-charge, Directorate for Intelligence
Other Staff and Field Officers
Senior Supt. Johnson Almazan	2012-2014 chief, investigation and detection management branch, Davao City Police Office, when Dela Rosa was chief of the Davao police; 2015 – regional director, Highway Patrol Group Region 12 (Socsargen)	Chief, Caloocan City Police, which had a record number of drug war killings;  later executive officer, Directorate for Integrated Police Operations Visayas; commander, Eastern Police District, National Capital Region.
Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino (PMA ‘85)	Served for 22 years (including as deputy director), Police Regional Office 11 (Davao Region). 2012- considered for appointment as chief of the Davao City Police. In 2009, when he was chief of the Regional Investigation and Detective Management group, he testified at a hearing called by the Commission on Human Rights in Davao. He said there were summary killings in the city and blamed them on gangs, crime syndicates, and  communists.	Director, Police Regional Office 3 (Central Luzon); appointed head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority or PDEA when he retired from the PNP in September 2017
Senior Supt.Rene Aspera (PMA ‘87)	2010-2012 – chief, Davao City Police	Acting Director, Police Security Protection Group, the PNP’s intelligence and counterintelligence unit; later chief of the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management
Senior Supt. Matthew Baccay (PMA ‘92)	2003-2005 – precinct commander, San Pedro, Davao City. In 2005, suspended by the Ombudsman-Mindanao along with three other officers for negligence and incompetence in connection with 247 summary executions in the city. The Ombudsman noted 52 killings in San Pedro that remained unsolved. 2006-2008 – precinct commander, Talomo, Davao City; 2009 – deputy chief, Directorate for Integrated Police Operations, Eastern Mindanao, Camp Catitipan, Davao City. Summoned in 2009 by CHR Commissioner Leila de Lima to testify during her investigation of the Davao Death Squad.  In 2010, was among more than 20 Davao police officers the Ombudsman suspended for failure to investigate death squad killings. The suspension was reversed by the Court of Appeals the same year but in 2012 the Ombudsman fined the same officers for neglect of duty in connection with the killings.In 2003, Baccay told the Washington Post that the killings were the work of youth gangs and that police investigations were stalled because of a lack of evidence.	Chief, comptrollership division  Regional Police Office 3 (Central Luzon); commander,Eastern Police District; chief, Regional Police Office 3 (Central Luzon)
Senior Supt. Vicente Danao (PMA ‘91)	1995-1996 – Commander, Special Weapons and Tactics Group, Davao City Police Office; 1996-1998 – precinct commander, Baguio, Davao City; 1998-1999 – precinct commander, Marilog, Davao City; 1999-2002 – precinct commander, Calinan, Davao City; 2002-2003 – precinct commander, Sasa, Davao City; 2003-2007 – precinct commander, Talomo, Davao City; later assigned to the Davao Regional Police office;  2013-2016 – Davao City Police chief. Suspended by the Ombudsman in 2005, along with three other Davao City officers for failure to investigate 51 killings in his jurisdiction that were  linked to the Davao Death Squad. Suspended again in 2010 for the same reason but the Court of Appeals reversed the suspension the same year. In 2012, the Ombudsman fined the officers for failure to resolve those killings.  According to the Lascañas affidavit, Danao was behind a series of death squad killings in Davao. But in a Senate hearing in 2016, Danao denied the existence of the Davao Death Squad. According to Rappler, Danao was very close to Duterte, who, among other things, helped him resolve a domestic violence charge filed by his wife while he was Davao police chief.	Deputy chief of operations, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG); later chief, Manila Police District; director, Southern Tagalog regional police; and chief, National Capital Region Police Office
Senior Supt. Alden Delvo (PNPA ‘95)	2009 – precinct commander, San Pedro, Davao City Police Station; 2013 – spokesperson, Davao Regional Police Office. In 2010, Delvo was among more than 20 Davao police officers the Ombudsman suspended for failure to ““conduct any intelligence gathering to identify the perpetrators of the reported killings, even though… as commanders of the Davao City Police Office they could identify the areas where the killings took place.” According to the Lascañas affidavit, Delvo led a team of death squad members responsible for abductions and killings. But in 2009, Delvo denied he maintained a hit squad and  told the Commission on Human Rights that while there were killings in his jurisdiction, these were not summary executions and they could not be solved because witnesses were afraid to testify. In 2012, Delvo was fined by the Ombudsman, along with more than 20 other officers, for failing to investigate extrajudicial executions in his jurisdiction.	Executive assistant to  PNP Chief Dela Rosa; later chief, Batangas Provincial Office; chief, management division, directorate for comptrollership; chief, intelligence division; deputy director and later director, Firearms and Explosives Office
Senior Supt. Michael John Dubria (PMA ‘91)	2008 – precinct commander, Talomo, Davao City; 2013 – Southern Mindanao police intelligence chief; 2014- 2016- Davao del Sur police chief; 2016 – chief, Regional Operations and Plans Division, Davao Region Police Office.  Like Delvo (above), Dubria  was among more than 20 Davao police officers the Ombudsman suspended in 2010 and fined in 2012 for neglect of duty because they failed to investigate death squad  killings that took place  in their areas in 2005-2008.	Davao City police chief; later executive assistant to PNP Chief Dela Rosa;  Region 12 police chief;  and chief, Directorate for Intelligence,  PNP headquarters
Senior Supt. Filmore Escobal (PMA ‘91)	Chief, Police Community Relations, Police Regional Office, Davao Region; precinct commander, San Pedro Police Station, Davao City; 2005  – precinct commander, Sta. Ana Police Station, Davao City. In 2005, suspended along with three other officers by the Ombudsman-Mindanao for failure to investigate 67 killings between 1998 and 2004 that fell under his jurisdiction. In 2012, the Office of the Ombudsman found him and his classmate Vicente Danao, along with some 20 other officers, guilty of neglect of duty for failure to resolve killings between 2005-2008 attributed to the Davao Death Squad. Later appointed intelligence chief of Region 11 (Davao Region) Police Office.	PNP liaison officer for the transition preparations for the Presidential Security Group; later director, Police Security and Protection Group, the unit that supports the Presidential Security Group in protecting the First Family; Chief, Region 11 (Davao Region) Police Office.
Senior Supt. Albert Ferro (PMA ‘89)	As a PC 2nd lieutenant freshly graduated from the PMA in 1989, he was assigned along with then Lt. Ronald Dela Rosa to fight communist insurgents in Davao Oriental. 1991 – assigned to the 426th PNP Company in Surigao del Sur. Later,  assigned to the Special Operations Group of the Police Region 11 (Davao Region) and named regional chief, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Region 11.  2014-2016 – chief, Compostela Valley Provincial Police.	Chief, Anti-Illegal Drugs Group, which was disbanded after police officers killed a Korean businessman in the PNP headquarters in 2017; Ferro was relieved after the killing. Reinstated by Dela Rosa as chief of the new PNP Drug Enforcement group; later, he was named acting regional director for the PNP Regional Office in Bicol; and after that, chief, Police Regional Office for the Central Visayas and then chief, PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
Supt. Royina Garma (PNPA ’97)	1996-1998 – chief, Davao City police Anti-Vice Unit; 1999-2004 – head, Davao City Police women and children protection desk; 2009-2011- administrative officer, Davao City Police Office; 2011-2015 – station commander, Sasa and Sta. Ana, Davao City. According to the Lascañas affidavit, Garma had her own hit team that targeted criminals and others, following the instructions of presidential aide, later Senator Christopher Go. According to a complaint filed with the ICC, Garma, along with fellow officer Edilberto Leonordo, were tasked by Duterte to “manage, oversee and supervise the death squad operations in his war on drugs at the national level.”	Chief, PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Region 7 (Central Visayas); later chief, Cebu City police; and director, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office
Senior Supt. Dario Gunabe (PMA ‘91)	2007 – police chief, Tagum, Davao del Norte; 2012 – deputy director for administration, Davao City Police Office; 2012-2014 – Commander, Regional Public Safety Battalion, Camp Catitipan Davao City; 2015  – chief, Davao del Sur Police Provincial Office	Chief, Davao Oriental Police Provincial Office; later police attaché to the Philippine Embassy in Malaysia
Chief Supt. Isidro Lapeña (PMA ‘73)	1996-1998 – chief, Davao City Police Office; 2002-2004 – director Police Regional Office 11 (Davao Region). According to the Lascañas affidavit, Lapeña was the brains behind some abductions conducted by the Davao Death Squad. Lapeña told Rappler there was no truth to Lascañas’s allegations.	Director General, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA); later commissioner, Bureau of Customs; Director General. Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
Supt. Edilberto Leonardo (PNPA ’96)	2013-2015 – deputy director, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Davao Region, based in Davao City. According to a complaint filed before the International Criminal Court, Leonardo was responsible for “ helping design and operate the reward system for the war on drugs at the national level.” Leonardo allegedly interceded with Duterte so his PNPA ’96 classmate, CIDG Region 8 director, Supt. Marvin Marcos,  charged with the killing of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., would be reinstated.  Espinosa was killed inside his jail cell by CIDG operatives on Nov. 5, 2016.	Chief, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Region 11 (Davao Region); briefly in 2017, commander of Moriones police station in Tondo, which logged a high number of drug-related killings; undersecretary for protected areas, Department of the Environment and Natural Resources
Supt. Lito Patay (PNPA ‘97)	1997 – Provincial Mobile Group, Davao del Norte Provincial Police Office; 2008-2014 – posted to the Police Regional Office 11 (Davao Region); 2015-2016 – police chief, Digos, Davao del Sur. Patay told Reuters in 2017 that his men killed only drug suspects who fought back when the police tried to arrest them.	Commander, Police Station 6, Batasan Hills,  Quezon City Police District, which logged an unusually large number of drug-related killings during his tenure; later commander, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Region 3 Field Unit (Central Luzon); commander, CIDG Region 7 Field Unit  (Central Visayas) and chief, Regional Comptrollership Division, Region 11 (Davao Region) Police Office
Supt. Ruben Ramos	2012 – operations chief, Davao City Police Office, when Dela Rosa was police chief; 2012-2014 – chief, Buhangin, Davao City police station; 2014 – assigned to the Police Regional Office 11 (Davao Region)	Commander, Station 8, Manila Police District. Told Reuters he was reassigned there by Dela Rosa — “He knows us, so he trusts us.” Later, provincial chief, North Cotabato Highway Patrol Group
Supt. Antonio  Ersando Rivera	Long-time Davao City police officer. Exact positions not available prior to 2009-2013, when he was chief, Investigation and Detective Management Division of the Davao City Police Office. In 2014, he was spokesperson, Police Regional Office 11 (Davao region). According to the Lascañas affidavit, Rivera led a Davao Death Squad team that killed small-scale miners in Mati, Davao Oriental (1999-2000) and shoplifters in Davao City (2005-2008).	Assigned  to the office of  PNP chief Ronald de la Rosa in March 2017, after being exposed by Lascañas for involvement in the Davao Death Squad; upon retirement in 2017, named Region 11 (Davao Region) director, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
Supt. Mark April Young (PNPA ‘01)	2011-2012 – Commander, Kapalong, Davao del Norte police station; 2013 –  Police Community Relations Chief and later, Deputy Provincial Director for Operations,  Davao del Norte Provincial Police Office; 2016 – chief, Digos City, Davao del Sur Police Office	Commander, Police Station 4, Novaliches, Quezon City Police District, which like Police Station 6 (above) logged an unusually large number of drug-related killings during his tenure.

*The PNP Directorial Staff is the highest policy-making body of the police and was responsible for the planning and implementation of the antidrug campaign. It was made up largely of officers who were either previously assigned to Davao or were Dela Rosa’s peers in the PMA classes ‘85, ‘86, and ’87 — or both. The other Directorial Staff members who were part of the PMA ‘86  class but were not posted in Davao were Chief Supt. Fernando H. Mendez Jr., Director for Personnel and Records Management, and Chief Supt. Jose Ma. Victor DF Ramos, Director for Logistics. 

Alumni of PMA Classes ‘86 and ‘87 also monopolized the leadership of the Metro Manila police force in 2016. Metro Manila was where drug war casualties were at their highest. These officers were:

• Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde (’86), head of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) who later became PNP chief;
• Senior Supt. Jose Napoleon Coronel (’87), chief of the Manila Police District;
• Senior Supt. Guillermo Eleazar (’87), chief of the Quezon City Police District, later head of the NCRPO and PNP chief; 
• Senior Supt. Roberto B. Fajardo (’87), chief of the Northern Police District;
• Senior Supt. Tomas C. Apolinario Jr. (’87), chief of the Southern Police District; and
• Senior Supt. Romulo E. Sapitula (’86), chief of the Eastern Police District.

SOURCES: News articles, especially those published by Rappler and SunStar Davao; research by the Security Force Monitor, Columbia University Law School; cases filed in the Office of the Ombudsman-Mindanao; investigations by the Commission on Human Rights, affidavit of Arturo Lascañas, complaint filed before the International Criminal Court ,and author interviews. The dates of postings are based on published sources and there are gaps in some of them because no information was obtained. This means that a police officer could have been assigned to post earlier or later than what is indicated above, but because no published sources mention earlier or later postings, they were not included on this list.